The AES Corporation (AES)

AES Corp. (AES-4.5%) shares languish after Q2 earnings at the power and utilities company tumbled 20% with a double-digit decline in revenue from its key Latin American utilities business. AES says it expects EPS for the year to come in at the low end of its May guidance.

UBS starts coverage on AES Corp. (AES+1.9%) with a Buy rating and $15 price target, noting it expects the operator of utilities and wholesale power generators to "handsomely outperform its commodity-driven peers in the near term," as recently-appointed CEO Andres Gluski seeks to trim less profitable businesses and aggressively cut costs.

The continuing decline in natural gas (off 6.9% today) and resultant fall in electricity prices is shelving alternative energy projects from NextEra (NEE), Exelon (EXC), and CMS, but Michael Morris of American Electric Power (AEP) warns about becoming too dependent on gas. "The way to make $4 gas, $8 gas is for everyone to go out and build ... natural-gas plants."

The AES Corporation is a power generation and utility company. The Company operates in two business lines; Generation & Utilities; through its six market-oriented Strategic Business Units in United States, Andes, Brazil, MCAC, EMEA and Asia.